What electronics do you bring?

[Times Prince]

We don't do all that i-stuff.

 

We have

- Kindle Fire,

- small ASUS Transformer laptop (with Kindle app and wireless internet),

- Smart cell phone (with Kindle app - cell phone also used for Princess @ sea onboard and for clock). Cell phone in airplane mode during cruise with wireless access turned on.

 

- Nikon underwater camera for Caribbean snorkeling and/or rainy conditions

- Other small point and shoot camera for land excursions (could use the Nikon).

 

- cheap $10 watch for onshore excursions.

 

That's it.

[donaldsc]

If you do not count photo gear, I bring cell phones, Samsung tablet, reader, MP3 player, portable bluetooth keyboard, GPS sometimes, portable sat nav if I am going to rent a car, multiport USB charger, extra batteries for everything, and a portable battery for recharging on the go. Also of course as many cords and wires as I think that I may need.

 

I should add that I also bring paper and pen so that I can communicate with my wife. Works as well as the wireless communicators that people always ask about on CC.

 

DON

Edited June 12, 2016 by donaldsc

[beg3yrs]

I take a small surge protector that has three blogs and 2 USB connections, ...

 

Do not take surge protectors on the ships. They are against Princess regulations as they are a fire hazard.

 

Simply search this very forum for extensive techno-geek discussions regarding why they are a fire hazard.

 

Here's the link to the Princess document that forbids their use: https://book.princess.com/html/personalizer/downloads/pdf/Safety_Information.pdf

Read the paragraph at the top of page 3.

[SadieN]

Do not take surge protectors on the ships. They are against Princess regulations as they are a fire hazard.

 

Simply search this very forum for extensive techno-geek discussions regarding why they are a fire hazard.

 

Here's the link to the Princess document that forbids their use: https://book.princess.com/html/personalizer/downloads/pdf/Safety_Information.pdf

Read the paragraph at the top of page 3.

 

 

Basically it boils down to land and ships are grounded differently. Land surge protectors are vastly different than those used for ships. We bring a simple extension cord.

 

We don't bring too much. Phones (that live in the safe onboard), travel clock, my kindle, DH might bring his tablet. Oh, several flashlights.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[mammajamma2013]

Phone (which gets turned off and put into the safe) and Nook for reading. I want to read while waiting in airports and in the pre-cruise hotel. I usually read when my 3:00 AM insomnia kicks in, but have only had that happen once on the four 7-day cruises we've taken. I sleep so well on a ship! On that particular night, I just sat outside for a little while. Loved it!

 

That said, last cruise I turned my Nook on mid-ocean only to find it had reset itself to the "new, out-of-the-box" settings. Without wifi (I didn't buy a package and it wasn't important enough to pay for the LOOOONG minutes it would take to reset to my account) I went without. That's the cruise I woke up at 3:00 AM on.

 

Nice that the ships have librarys!

[mammajamma2013]

Two paper cups and 50 yards of string. old school electronics.

 

Surely for a cruise you'd need 100 yards?

[kayred]

Surely for a cruise you'd need 100 yards?

 

 

Don't forget to use plastic cups in case they get wet at the pool....lol I crack myself up :)

[Papa Yoda]

I probably have half doz or so albums of Andrea Bocelli and a few albums of Il Volo; in addition to 30 or so albums by other assorted artists. Among my favorites are the Willie Nelson singing the Gershwin songbooks albums.

 

Yes, that duet is something else. I think any/every Princess ship should play that over the ship's PA system while preparing to depart any of the Italian ports; or departing San Francisco for that matter.��

 

What breaks my heart is them playing "Time to Say Goodbye" on the last night over the PA - it is such a great melody.

[renocaddy]

Have to have audiobooks (free from the library) pre-downloaded on my phone & earbuds.

[LeeW]

First Alaska trip (with land) we took 1600 photos and 8 hours of video. And had one memory card go bad. Take more than one camera. Make sure you can zoom in on distant scenery. At least one waterproof option, either case, bag or waterproof camera. You WILL have at least one rainy day.

 

You need extra memory cards and batteries, chargers, and some way of splitting the two outlets onboard since two power cubes won't fit at the same time (we use a Y cable, others use a small power strip).

 

We also bring a 10" laptop to keep backups, plus extra memory cards for that (2nd backup), and usually a photo hard drive (Wolverine, although these days an extra drive isn't as essential).

 

GPS for the balcony and rental car. Binoculars aren't electronic, but very worthwhile in Alaska.

[TullMan]

One of my favorite things in the beginning was that phones wouldn't ring. That is a thing of the past, sad.

 

I take a camera and GPS. One of my hobbies is cartography. After the trip I can find places on Google Earth show friends the joy of cruising.

[ChuckinSC]

I always take my iPad to use the free internet minutes. A few of the things I use it for: ...............

 

3). I have an app which allows me to see where we are and how far it is to the next port. If I see another island in the distance I am able to identify it. I download all the maps prior to the cruise so that it doesn't take internet minutes. .........

 

6). Check the Cruise Critic forum

 

Paul, do you mind sharing what app you use?

[keithm]

My husband and I leave in just one week ( so excited) and I am trying to decide what electronic I actually want to bring. We are flying into Seattle next Friday and leave Sat on the Crown for Alaska.

 

Like most today I am very "connected" in my daily life and I look forward to being unplugged. Having said that I know there are some things I must bring for example my phone, my camera and my iPad (for reading books).

 

The truth is as much as I like the idea of being "unplugged" for a week i don't think that's realistic.

 

I am interested in your experiences. What electronics have you brought but wished you didn't and what didn't you bring that you wished you did? I am tempted to bring my laptop to download photos but I am hesitant to bring it. Do you bring your phone on Alaska excursions? What about the rain?

 

Please share what has worked, or not worked, for you and your family

For me it's my phone(keep it off or you could get hit with really high roaming charges!)Electric razor, C-Pap machine(does that count??) If I want to be connected, I check e-mails in the computer room.

[beg3yrs]

Paul, do you mind sharing what app you use?

 

While I'm not Paul, I use an app with similar features. It's called Pocket Earth.

[shellbeachjim]

Camera, Kindle, iPad and iPhone (and the requisite chargers). I take the iPhone with me at all times and use it as my backup camera. This came in very handy a few years ago when we were at Angkor Wat in Cambodia. It was very hot and humid (100F+ and 90%). All of my camera batteries spontaneously discharged so the only camera I had remaining was my iPhone. I was not the only one who had this happen - the ship's photographer was on our excursion and it happened to him the same day.

[Nanaoften]

Camera, Kindle, iPad and iPhone (and the requisite chargers). I take the iPhone with me at all times and use it as my backup camera. This came in very handy a few years ago when we were at Angkor Wat in Cambodia. It was very hot and humid (100F+ and 90%). All of my camera batteries spontaneously discharged so the only camera I had remaining was my iPhone. I was not the only one who had this happen - the ship's photographer was on our excursion and it happened to him the same day.

 

 

Just curious why you bring the kindle and the ipad...

[shellbeachjim]

Just curious why you bring the kindle and the ipad...

 

 

I prefer reading on my Kindle. I don't like the backlighting on the iPad - it hurts my eyes at night. My Kindle is a Touch and it takes very little space or weight.

[By The Bay]

I found Google Translate very helpful when visiting China and Japan recently. It does not require Wifi or phone connection to a provider. Just download your preferred languages before you travel.

[MTNestr]

Paul, do you mind sharing what app you use?

 

Motion X GPS HD

 

Motion X has 2 apps. You do not want Motion X Drive for this purpose.

[Viesczy]

On our 21 day cruise on the Caribbean Princess in march Karen brought her tablet & phone, I had my phone and my laptop.

 

Didn't really use any of them too much beyond some gaming (tablet/phones) and checking email/FB every other day or so.

 

It was great not being electronically shackled.

[scott4020]

Just curious why you bring the kindle and the ipad...

 

The kindle is 1000x more readable that the iPad is the sunlight.

[Mommypig]

The kindle is 1000x more readable that the iPad is the sunlight.

 

 

The kindle paperwhite is readable in full sun. The kindle fire and early kindles are not, as most other tablets and iPads.

 

I take the paperwhite for reading, the iPad for games and checking email and banking, etc. we generally do long cruises so it is generally worth it to me to bring it. I also bring an iPod that is loaded with audiobooks for reading or walking. Since we are thinking of doing a land tour in England after our cruise next year I may just take the iPhone and leave the iPad at home to save on weight

[AdoraBelle]

Have to have audiobooks (free from the library) pre-downloaded on my phone & earbuds.

 

 

If you like audiobooks, you might enjoy podcasts (also free). There are podcasts on every conceivable topic now, and a lot of "fictional" ones, like old radio plays.

 

For general info, I really like "Stuff You Should Know". I've even learned some cruise-related stuff on it (they did a whole episode on rogue waves--scary).

 

And to get on topic, I bring a small Bluetooth shower speaker (little disc on a suction cup) and listen to podcasts when I'm showering or tidying up the cabin and can't/don't feel like wearing headphones.

[ChuckinSC]

Motion X GPS HD

 

Motion X has 2 apps. You do not want Motion X Drive for this purpose.

Thank you.

[tuckerboxbill]

Motion X GPS HD

 

Motion X has 2 apps. You do not want Motion X Drive for this purpose.

 

Thanks for the info on this app, I have it now, and downloaded the track for our Alaska cruise.

 

Question: How do you increase the font size of the placenames on the map, they are tiny!